‘Cancelled’ academic challenges Cardiff Uni on inclusion of his work in research submission

An academic who believes he has been “cancelled” has challenged Cardiff University on its potential inclusion of his work in a research submission.

Dr James Whitley believes it would be unethical for the university to use his work in their next submission for national rankings on research excellence.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the quality of university research and decides how around £2 billion of public funding is allocated each year.

The university has said no decisions have been made yet about REF 2029 submissions and that ORCA, where Dr Whitley’s work can be found, contains all of Cardiff University’s research output.

Nation Cymru reports that Dr Whitley was a highly regarded professor of Mediterranean archaeology at Cardiff Uni, a post he had held since 2008. As part of this year’s cuts, the university decided to close the School of Ancient History, and in May, Dr Whitley accepted voluntary redundancy.

Retiring professors are usually given the title “professor emeritus” as a mark of respect, allowing them to keep an official link to the university, such as an email address and library access. However, Dr Whitley says he was refused the title and believes it was withheld in “spite” because of his outspoken opposition to the cuts programme.

In a letter to the REF’s panel of assessors, Dr Whitley questioned Cardiff University’s ethics, including his work in its next submission.

He wrote: “I am writing concerning an ethical matter relating to the REF, in relation to the next REF submission. I have been employed by Cardiff University for almost 35 years, from September 1990 to May 2025.

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“I retired with the status of full professor, having been granted the title in 2008. My field of study is Classical Archaeology, and my REF publications have normally been submitted to the archaeology rather than the classics/ancient history panel (normally on behalf of the School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University).” 

“If you look up my publications on Cardiff University’s ORCA site (where all research publications – and therefore potential REF submissions – are posted) you will see that many publications are listed – 101 in total.

“Of these, several published since 2021 were being considered as possible ‘REF’ submissions.”

Dr Whitley added that when he retired in May 2025, he expected emeritus status, and believes the motivations for it being withheld are “spite” from the pro-vice chancellor.

“My question is this: Is it ethical for an institution to submit publications on behalf of a unit of assessment, when one member of that unit (whose publications are being submitted as part of the REF submission) has been ‘cancelled’ in this way?” he added. 

The retired professor claimed he had not only been “robbed of a title” but was also denied affiliation with the university, as he can no longer access OneDrive, emails or the library.

When asked whether he was certain the university planned to submit some of his research papers to the REF, Dr Whitley said he was unsure and was trying to confirm the rules, adding that if he were an emeritus, Cardiff would be entitled to do so. 

He added that the university’s decision to remove him from the list of “‘honorary staff” while continuing to list his publications suggests it is a consideration, but that doing so would be “unethical”.

The REF administrators said that guidance for the next round of submissions is currently being developed.

A Cardiff University spokesperson said no comment could be made on individual cases, adding: “An emeritus title is an honorific awarded at the discretion of a university.”

The spokesperson continued: “There is no entitlement to it upon retirement and each case is considered on its merits.

“At this stage, no decisions have been made about the university’s submissions for REF 2029. As such, it would be inappropriate for us to comment. For clarity, ORCA is a digital repository of all of Cardiff University’s research outputs to help make our research more widely and freely available. It includes, for example, PhD theses, as well as peer-reviewed papers and academics are free to submit their work themselves.”

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